The Directive of the European Parliament and the Council of July 2014 established a general framework for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) among EU Member States. The Directive aims to promote the sustainable development of marine areas and equitable use of marine resources. Within this context, Greece has initiated the procedure of the Directive’s transposition into …More

On 24 December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 72/249 dealing with the development of an International legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. In line with the Resolution, a new intergovernmental conference met …More

This paper draws a parallel between mineral resources of the deep sea and marine genetic resources. The paper first discusses the discovery and first deep sea exploration of minerals bearing metals of economic interest. Secondly, the paper gives a brief historical overview of metal prices, and other external factors, such as the technological challenge and the global economic …More

This article suggests a principled approach to the negotiations on benefit-sharing from the use of marine genetic resources under a new international legally binding instrument on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). It first reflects on the terms in which benefit-sharing has been discussed in the BBNJ negotiations until now, which have been …More

This paper seeks to question the prevailing orthodoxy on the need for the ‘package deal’ on the proposed international legally-binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction to address marine genetic resources, including questions relating to access and benefit sharing. Through an examination of …More

This article explores some of the ways in which marine genetic resources conceptually and normatively intersect with the concept and idea of commons. Through an analysis of the terminological ambiguities and semantic slippages characterizing the usage of the concept of commons in international law, the article addresses questions relation to the idea of global commons …More

In recent years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been increasingly called upon to settle disputes pertaining to migration in the Mediterranean. This article examines the developments in the ECtHR’s pertinent case law through the lens of vulnerability, a concept that offers much potential for developing the Convention on Human Rights in response to new challenges, …More

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become increasingly involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean Sea in order to fill a gap in humanitarian protection. This article examines the legal framework of their search and rescue activities. The international law of the sea sets out an obligation to render assistance to persons in distress at sea. …More

For the first time, the possibility exists for ships to navigate the world with no person on board. Unmanned vessels promise safer and less costly navigation at sea. However, arguments have been made that electronically operated devices may malfunction or be defective and that the cost-savings they operate may be offset by the cost of …More

The pending maritime delimitations between Spain and Morocco are highly complex and noteworthy due to the existence of diverse factors, namely the particularity that the delimitations shall be conducted in two different seas: the Alboran Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, various sovereignty issues must be addressed, such as the Spanish enclaves in North Africa, …More

In an era where hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities keep soaring, the law of maritime delimitation has a vital role to play. Even though the optimal result in a delimitation dispute would be the establishment of a definitive and permanent boundary, international law envisages rules for the regulation of offshore activities in undelimited/disputed maritime areas …More